It is with great sorrow that we have to announce that Dr Penny Lacey passed away peacefully on Monday 12 January 2015. We will remember her as a colleague who was admired by both her students and the community for the contributions that she made to the field through her teaching and research.

The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues' Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), 'What is Character? Virtue Ethics in Education' has attracted a huge amount of interest ahead of its launch, reflecting the growing interest in character education.

Written by Catherine Needham, Reader in Public Policy and Public Management at the Health Services Management Centre. If you live in Birmingham, like I do, you could be forgiven for feeling slightly green-eyed at what is going on in Manchester at the moment. After the unprecedented devolution package that the city secured at the end of 2014, it has today been announced that Greater Manchester will be given complete control of its £6 billion NHS budget.

Written by Professor Scott Lucas. A release of top-secret documents indicates that Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has exaggerated – and possibly lied – with his repeated claims that Iran is on the brink of a nuclear bomb.